The Sun. — London, England, 1838-01-18 00:00:00

(Hear, hear.) He (Sir H. Vivian) most sincerely believed that unless this country asserted its power, and maintained its dominion over Canada, the effect would be so destructive not only to the Canadians themselves, but to every British subject who, under the protection of this country, had settled there. It was to prevent this that he sincerely hoped every means of conciliation would be taken, that the Noble Earl who was about to proceed thither would have full power to effect such conciliation, and that through his exertions the Canadians might long continue to live happily under the parental sway of this great nation. Mr. HUME was extremely happy to have heard from the Hon and Gallant Officer, who had just sat down, a repetition of what the Right Hen. Baronet opposite last night stepped out of his way to notiee.—( Hear, hear.) Ile (Mr. Hume) had feared that he should not have had an opportunity afforded him to reply to that Right Hon. Baronet ; but the present cc sion afforded him that opportunity, and he should avail him self of it. The Hon. and Gallant Gentleman has, as well as others, lent himself to state that which was a most garbled and incorrect representation. The Hon. and Gallant Gen tleman has said (continued Mr. Hume) that I ought to know that the revolt would take place, because I had foretold it four years ago. Why, Sir, ten years ago I foretold it. When on the opposite side of the House I recommended that the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada should be separated amicably from this country. On that occasion I stated that if the policy which had been hitherto followed in Canada were continued, it must ultimately lead to resistance and sepa ration. I foretold that, as soon as I beheld the blind and narrow policy which this country was adopt ing towards those colonies. Ever since my attention has been directed towards the state of our colonies in North America, there has existed nothing but misrule on the part of this country. A limited number of official persons, not having any interest:in, nor being connected by property or birth with the Colonies, have been uniformly maintained by the British Government in all the official situations in those provinces. The same spirit of religious persecution was pur sued, the same disdain shown towards the Roman Catholics in Canada as had been for so many centuries exhibited to wards the Catholics in Ireland.—( Cries of " No, no.") What? Every document proved this. Let those gentlemen who say no, look to facts. In every respect, except the Go. vernment provision for the Catholic clergy, the Catholics of Canada are treated as the Catholics of Ireland have been. The cry of no, no, therefore, can only have proceeded from those gentlemen who have taken upon the one-sided tale which they have heard in this House. It was impossible for any gen tleman who had read the report of the Committee of Inquiry of 1828, to rise from its perusal with any other opinion than that a system of misrule had driven the people of Canada most reluctantly to the opinion that it ought to be met with resistance. There is a period when resistance becomes a virtue; arid as I have frequently before stated, the parties interested must be the judges when the time for resistance has arrived.—(Hear, hear.) Such is the fact, and is there anything uncommon in this doctrine ? I may be erro neous in my opinions, but I never have flinched and never shall flinch from an open and candid avowal of them. My opinions with respect to the Canadian question have been before the public for many years, and what I expressed in that letter, which has been garbled by Sir Francis Head, is the opinion I still entertain. I say garbled, because it has suited the pur pose of Sir F. Head to send home one part of the letter with out sending home the whole. He contented himself with sending home a portion of one letter instead of a dozen letters, which lie might have had if he chose.—( Laughter.) I am now prepared to repeat all that I stated in that letter. You are now seeing the consequences that have entirely arisen from that system of injustice which has hitherto been acted upon to wards the Canadians. I will now read the letter from which the objectionable words have been extracted. It is addressed to Mr. Mackenzie. Gentlemen have spoken of a correspond ence between me and Mr. Papineau. I am not aware that I ever had the honour of a letter from that gentleman, or that he ever received one from me, or that anything ever passed between Us, except on communication from him of a vote of thanks which the House of Assembly had passed for the little services which 1 had been able to render Canada in this House. But let the documents be produced ; let the letters come forward. Ido think that that which I foretold has come to pass in the natu ral course of events, and that those gentlemen who had the Power to prevent it have been the real cause of this unfortu nate revolt. But I will not interrupt myself again.—(Hear, and much laughter.) I must, however, before I begin:__ (Great laughter) —say that the manner in which the Right Hon. Baronet last night alluded to Mr. Mackenzie did show a worse and more vindictive spirit than I expected from him to wards any individual, and particularly an individual in the situation in which Mr. Mackenzie is placed.—( Hear, hear.) Now, Sir, who is Mr. Mackenzie ?—( Hear, hear.) Mr. Mac kenzie was once a member of the House of Assembly in Up per Canada. He had been the printer, editor, and proprietor of an opposition paper called The Advocate. A party orga nization destroyed his property, pulled down his house, and endangered his life. He prosecuted the parties, and obtained damages for the injury he had sustained. But his enemies were not satisfied. The House of Assembly expelled him for a speech delivered by him on the hustings. The county of York re-elected him. He was expelled again, and re-elected again. Four successive times was he re elected, in spite of all they could do. His last rejection was only effected by a majority of one. I applied to the Colonial-office and asked whether it was fit that such a course should be pursued ? The Colonial-office told me they did not countenance any such thing, and sent out orders that, as far as Government could influence the House of Assembly, Mr. Mackenzie should not be again expelled. He happened to be in England the last time of his expulsion, and what brought him here ? He was deputed by the House of Assembly to sup port the claims of the colony. It was here I became acquainted with him. Lord Goderich took immediate measures for re med3ing th e gr i evances complained of, and I had the pleasure uf presenting to that Noble Lord the thanks of twenty-five !cunties and tow ns i n C anada for the reforms he introduced. Mr. Mack enz i e returned to Upper Canada. Immediately after, what was the sense of the people of Toronto towards ? They, at the first meeting of the Corporation estab lished the year before by Act of Parliament, elected him Mayor of that city. This is the gentleman of whom the Right Hon. Baronet spoke as a Mr. Mackenzie. True; he is a Mr. Mackenzie : but there is also a Sir Robert Peel. But that is not the way to speak of any individual. Wh a t furthe r did t hi s lead to? Was he again expelled from the House of Assembly ? No : he continued an active member of it for two years. He was Chairman of the different Com- Igoe', and prepared the reports of the grievances of Upper Canada. Was it to be supposed that such a man would be allowed by his opponents to remain quiet ? No ; they did !very thing in their power to injure him ; but nothing could be__ done to prej u di ce hi m in the minds of his constituents until r Francis Head at the last election succeeded in getting .ttins reject e d. Th e House of Assembly, by a majority of 35 t o 5. met, and t ore f rom the journals of the House the record °r the whole of the proceedings by which he had been ex- Palled, in like manner as was done by this House in the case .°,f Mr. Wilk s. The Hon. Member then proceeded to say __ 4l ,at such b e i ng t h e character of Mr. Mackenzie, he felt that :lien that gentleman left E ng l an d h e ( M r. Hume) was justi "Led in doing all he could to see that the measures which were promised by the Colonial-office were carried into effect. He wo uld venture t o say t h at Mr. Mackenzie, who, though he had be come a rebel—(Hear, hear)—why, if he had been success ful e he wou l d have been called a patriot.—( Hear, hear.) 8 , speeches had been made in that House by gen ttlemen as if no such thing as revolutions ever took , o e- Why, by what power did th e h ouse o f H anover o their present scat on the British throne ? It was by a revolution. Let the grounds of the revolution of 468 8 be i nqu i re d i nto ; h e w i shed the Honourable Member for , Tower Hamlets, who had stated that there was no pal lation or e xcuse f or th e present revo l t i n Canada, would Ilktnine into the grounds of th a t revo l ut i on , an d h e (Mr. 'neater was confident that it wou ld a pp ear t h at t h ere was no justification for the revolution of 1668 than could be i t i l i r ts'ed on behalf of the Canadian people. But by what right b 4 King of the French hold his throne ? \Vas it any thing ;I t i t . a revolution ? Yet had not this country even formed an v iti atioo with that individual who sat on a rebel throne ? I:.rther, on what ground was it that the King of Belgium Ministerial) his throne ? Were llonourable Members on that (the riisterial) side of the House slow to recognise him as a t. s, a cie wf t u ri l ut!, Sovereign ? They seemed, indeed, to act upon the that the people in all countries who made a popular movement were rebels till they were successful, but patriots W ilett they had triumphed. Honourable Members on the Ot her side of the House had indeed asserted of the Belgians, fl the C ana di ans now , th a t th e y h a d no groun d s f or their re orn• He would not stop to inquire which side was right he which was wrong in the opinion they had formed : but 1 , 4 did say that the case of the Canadians and the Belgians Il si;g ii t to stand together. The Belgians were successful, and z „7 were proclaimed patriots all, and had been recognised as ; the Canadians seemed to be unsuccessful, and tey were ;7 1 de nounced rebels • they gave title and honour tot he one 'n kr tY, and th ey wou ld' g ibb et an d execute t h e o th e r. Hon. 7 it tlemen se eme d mos t mea l y - mout h e d now , and to be afraid 'no mere mention of the term resistance : but did they recollect IX...ate/tent which was made to the House in 1766, by a Mr. Pitt, 1 14 " 11 1 the Government of that day brought in a Bill, not, per -1?8, entirel • similar to the present Bill, hint partaking much c' q f e lta i spirit, ) called the Stamp Act ? What would that Hon. r lttp ri . tio ., man have thought of the rhodomontade which had been k,,,s.eu by the mealy-mouthed orators of the present day aiost may man who should dare to think of resistance ? Let e,., Q41 mark well what he—" a Mr. Pitt"—said upon that occa iLti, We are told that America is obstinate—that America si;nest in open rebellion. Sir, I rejoice that America has re 1, H7(l. Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of sj; 111 1 voluntarily to submit to be slaves would have been fit in. milli to make slaves of all the rest." For the three th i o lli nns let the House read one milion,or even five hundred 44 tn and, and would not the same ar g ument apply in all its i:l5 to th e p resent case ? M r . Pi tt went on to say , " The li t Z t ricans have been w r o nged ; th e y h ave b een d r i ven t o mad -114,-;°Y injustice. Will you puni s h th e m for th e m a d ne ss you It % occasioned ? No ; let this country be the first to resume b y risruclence and temper." This was the language then held ,kikt" Whigs, and the success of the Americans was rewarded !i 4 1 3 Plallda, and the men who had taken part in the rebel o‘Zi-elri,ere eulogised as men wino had risked their lives for tho i 1 6 t of the country. And why did they not grant the same h at Hence to the resistance of the Canadians? He thought tl ie Government was acting a most ungenerous part, and 11 4 .°11 1(1 subsequently state his reason for this opinion more I)s t 7 t ail ; but, first, he would apply himself to get rid of the in,;(itosl att ac k w hi c h h a d been made upon him. The letter had been complained of was dated the 29th May, 1834, St ate /v as directed to Mr. Mackenzie on the accession of Mr. `t e ,.'eY to the Colonial-office. After acknowledging the t i Pt of a copy of the Vindicator Newspaper, and alluding As a , "• Mackenzie's recent expulsion from the House of G seemed t tilli, r4 E to 2 I Y, be hd sai that th . c sacrifice a great public principles overnment to gratify a paltry and mean spirit of revenge against Mr. Mackenzie, and had then gone on—" Your triumphant election of the 16th, and ejection from the Assembly of the 17th, must hasten that crisis, which is fast approaching, in the affairs of the Canadas, and which will terminate in independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother country, and the tyran nical conduct of a small and despicable faction in the colony ;" and he further expressed his hope that the Canadians would go on in their exertions for liberty, and that "success, glorious success, would crown their efforts."—( Hear, and laughter.) Was there anything wrong in such a sentiment ? And he thus concluded :—" The proceedings between 1772 and 1782 in America ought not to be forgotten ; and to the honour of the Americans, and for the interest of the civilised world, let their conduct and result be ever in view." This was all of importance which was contained in the letter which seemed so much to delight Hon. Gentlemen opposite. It showed only that he (Mr. Hume) was then, as he had long been, anxious that the grievances of the Canadians should be re medied, and he had written it at a most important period, when he was likely to feel most strongly. Lord Ripon had removed Mr. Bolton, the Attorney-General, and Mr. Hag german, the Solicitor-General, because the one had moved in the Council and the other in the House of Assembly that the dispatch of his Majesty's Ministers should be laid under the table, or be sent back to them. The dispatch contained seve ral alterations proposed by Lord Goderich to meet the wishes of the majority of the people, and these officers had taken the lead in opposing the reforms which the Colonial Government had wished should take place. Lord Goderich had sent out orders that these gentlemen should either resign or be dis missed. They came home. He would challenge the Noble Lord to produce any insult half so violent as these officers had perpetrated against Lord Ripon ; but it seemed to be the max im that the worst persons in the Colonies behaved they better they would be treated ; for no sooner had Mr. Stanley come to the office, than Haggerman, the Solicitor-General, was sent back to the Colony, promoted to the rank of Attorney- General, whilst Bolton, the Attorney- Gene ral, was made a judge, and was sent to Newfound land ; and he (Mr. Hume) thought that he should be able to show that most of the stoppage of business complained of in that island was mainly owing to this appointment. It was at the time that these gentlemen were sent back that he had written the letter which had been alluded to : he might perhaps have expressed himself in more temperate language, but feeling strongly upon the subject he had expressed himself so as to be understood.—( Hear, hear, hear, and laughter. ) He never minced matters—(Hear, hear)—he called things by their proper names, but seeing what had taken place in the United States he wished to avoid a repetition. Another letter which he had sent out to the colony, but which had not been sent back to this country, was to congratulate the colony on the removal of Mr. Stanley and the appointment of Mr. Rice, and saying that he had known Mr. Rice for many years, and from what he knew he anticipated a new order of things ; and he recommended that the wants of the colony should be embodied in a petition, which he hoped would meet with immediate attention, but at the same time that they should not give up their exertions till they had obtained good Government, which was equally important to England as to the colonies. This was one of two or three letters to the same effect, in all of which his sole object was to prevent the scenes which had taken place. If the Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth had known all this, he (Mr. Hume) thought that he never would have made the observations which he had stepped out of his way to do. He had never intended his letters for publication—( Hear, and laughter)-- they were mere private communications ; but the publica tion only showed how dangerous it was to write privately to a printer.—( Renewed laughter.) At the same time, he would tell Honourable Members that he never wrote any thing in private on public affairs which he eared about being printed.--( Hear, hear.) But, to show the House why the importance of his first letter had been magnified, he would call the attention of the House to what had taken place during the late election. They all knew the endea vours of either side to make out a strong case in favour of the particular colours under which each was to fight. They (the Reformers) had for their standing dish the affairs of Canada—( Hear, hear)—and the misconduct of the Duke of Cumberland—( Hear, and laughter) —and he (Mr. Hume) must confess that he was most willing to apply himself to the latter point in the best way which he could.— ( Hear, hear.) The other Honourable Gentlemen had for their great stalking-horse the fear of Mr. O'Connell ; and he would venture to assert that there was not a Tory hustings throughout the country which did net resound with cries on on one of two questions—either respecting the Poor Law._ (Loud cheers)—or Mr. O'Connell and the Church. Now, Hon. Members opposite might be honest with respect to O'Connell and the Church, but they were most dishonest with regard to the Poor Law Bill.—( Renewed Cheers.) Now, at the time of the publication of this letter an election was about to take place in Canada ; and to make a good use of the letter, the Common Council of Toronto had been called together to pass a resolution declaring that it tended to a separation between the Colony and the mother country. This proposal was met by the following resolution :—" That forced and unfair constructions have been attempted to be put upon the letter of Joseph Hume, Esq., dated Bryanston-square, March 29, 1834, by those who are hostile to the correction cf the abuses in the administration of our provincial affairs ; that the electors of the county of York fully deserve the commen dation bestowed upon them by the great Reformer, for their continued, firm, and consistent support of their representative upon his repeated unlawful expulsions from the Commons' House of Assembly, whose rash and unconstitutional conduct betrays a want of common sense and prudence, being a sacri fice of the greatest of public principles, and an invasion of the rights of the whole body of electors is the county ; that Mr. Hume justly regards such conduct on the part of the Legisla ture, countenanced as it was by the Crown officers and other executive functionaries in the Assembly, and unredressed by the exercise of the royal prerogative, as evidence of baneful and tyrannical domination, in which conduct it is both paiuful and injurious to find the provincial officials systematically upheld by the Minister at home against the people ; that Joseph Hume, Esq. in desiring their independen ce an d free dom from all such misrule, has no where expressed a desire to withhold from the people of this province that protection from the mother country which he has for years generously laboured to securo for them upon the principle of good go. vernment and enlightened policy, and that he has evinced the sincerity of his intentions by frequently-repeated appeals to the Colonial Ministry and British House of Commons for the redress of existing grievances ; that Mr. Hume's opinion of the Provincial Executive is justified by the solemn declara tion of the people of this province, through their representa tives in a late Parliament, when they unanimously addressed the present Lieutenant-Governor in the following language, viz., We feel unabated solicitude about the administration of public justice, and entertain a settled conviction that the continuance about your Excellency of those advisers who, from the unhappy feeling they pursued, have long deservedly lost the confidence of the country, is highly inexpedient, and calculated seriously to weaken the expectations of the people from the impartial and disinterested justiee of his Majesty's Go vernment.'" That amendment was carried by a majority of 13 to 7, in spite of the influence of the Government • and it thus appeared that his l e tt er was ma d e a mere stalking-horse to get the Council to affirm by a vote what it never thought or believed. He (Mr. Hume) thought that he had thus shown that he had pointed out, not only to the present but to every preceding Government, that the course which had beeen taken was un just to the colonies, and still more so to England. He would now ask the Honourable and Gallant Officer whether there were any other documents from which he had formed his opinions? If there were any such, he would ask their date, and what they were ? But he denied altogether that there were any such; he would challenge the Honourable and Gal lant Member to produce any such ; and if he could not, let him hold his tongue for ever.—( Hear, hear, and laughter. ) Who obliged the Right Honourable Baronet to go out of his way to introduce this correspondence? No one had during the debate mentioned Upper Canada, which related wholly to the Lower Province, the proceedings in which were not affected at all by his letter. So much for the personal part of the matter. Last night he had asked for a delay of twenty-four hours to allow them to consider the address which was proposed, with a v iew to draw up a proper amendment, and he thought that the House had been ill-treated in not having had the same indulgence ex. tended to them as was given to the other House of Parlia ment. Was the House of Commons to be trampled upon and treated as they had been last night ? If the House were not to consider any question, but were to pass whatever was proposed without attention or consideration, the course which the Noble Lord had pursued was perfectly right ; but if the propositions were to be discussed, the Noble Lord's conduct was most singular. It was because he had not been able last night to express his opinion, that he should then move an amendment to place on record his own sentiments on this sub ject ; he had consulted with no other Gentleman, but it would be a satisfaction to be able to put his own opinions upon the Journals of that House. He was sorry to find that his Hon. Friend, the Member for the Tower Hamlets, agreed so cor dially in the address proposed by the Noble Lord. He must have read the papers on the table of the House to little purpose when he denied the right of the House of Assembly to stop the supplies, and that they were wrong in so doing ; for if he had perused the despatch of Lord Glenelg to Lord Gosford, in June, 1836, he would have found it expressly stated, that his late Majesty recognised the right of the House of Assembly to stop the supplies. They had, undoubtedly, had the power, but whether they had exercised it with due discretion, was a matter of opinion. He (Mr. Hume) thought that they were right; of let it be remembered that they had not refused the supply altogether, but had voted it accompanied with restrictions. Then again his Hon. Friend objected to the conduct of the Canadians, because their leaders had not shown talents which would have fitted thorn for the duties of govenors. This circumstance did not alter the treason, and the Cana dians were the best judges of the fitness of their friends for Government. He was sorry also to find the Hon. Member say that the Canadians had no pretext for the course which they had pursued, when even Lord Gosford, in November, 1835, had deprecated the taking of money without the con sent of the House of Assembly ; and having grievances to be redressed and rights to be withheld, he (Mr. Hume) could not think that they were wrong in making a conditional stop page of the supplies.—(Cries of " Question, question.") It behoved him to show that the House were taking a course which was most unnecessary; and he hoped that Hon. Members would bear with him whilst he did so. They had bees told that the Government was disposed to act in accordance with the wishes of the majority of the people ; but he wished to ask how this desire had been manifested? Had they not opposed the resolutions agreed to in the 14th Parliament, not hastily but after due deliberation, pissed by a majority of sixty mem bers, representing an aggregate of 372,000 persons, and op posed only by 28 members, representin g only 138,000, toe number of Liberal Members who voted having thus a con stituency doubli. those of the Opposition ? The Parliament was dissolved, and the result was, that the minority of twenty- eight was reduced to eleven, showing that the people were de termined to support their representatives ; and in the next Parliament the number of members supporting the resolutions was increased to seventy-seven, represen,ing a population of 477,000, whilst the eleven dissentients only represented 34,000, thus proving that the assertion of grievances was not merely the effect of excitement, got up by one, two, or three men of talent, with Mr. Papineau at their head, but that it was the settled opinion of the country, on which the decision of the local Parliament might be considered as the embodied verdict.—( Interruption.) It might be very unpleasant to Honourable Gentlemen who had listened with so much satisfaction to a statement which pleased themselves to hear anything militating against their preconceived no tions ; but he must proceed. If any proof stronger than the renewed vote were required to show the opinion of the country, there was still another. Why did not Lord Gosford dissolve the Assembly ? The Constitutional argument was, if the Vote of tile House were thought factious, or as misrepre. senting the people, that a dissolution should take place ; but the reason why the appeal to the people was not made was given in Lord Gosford's reply---" I cannot dissolve the As sembly, because the same men would be sent back." H e ( Mr. Hume) well recollected that when the House of Com mons was divided in the proportion of 300 to 302 on the Re form Bill, William the Fourth came down to the House and dissolved the Parliament. He saw a difference of opinion so slight as to make him doubt which side really represented the people, and to them he appealed for a decision. The result was as unequivocal as it was notorious--the Members on the benches opposite were reduced from 300 to 156. He (Mr. Hume) thought, therefore, that they ought to be satisfied with using constitutional means to effect a reconciliation with Canada; and he would say, " Do not suspend the Constitution ; do not send out Lord Durham with a Bill of pains and penal ties," for such was not the way to make peace—such was not the method to appease the irritation which unfortu nately existed. If peace were the object of Ministers, they were, in his opinion, taking measures more likely to mar than to effect it. Let them learn from experience. Let them send out Lord Durham if they pleased, with paramonnt power; let him exercise to the full every prerogative of the Crown ; but let him not go armed with a Bill of op pression.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.) By the course they were pursuing they were acting most unjustly, by taking away the democratic power from the hands of the people, and they were but acting over again what had been done by the Parlia ment in 1774 ; they were doing precisely what was proposed at that period by Lord North, who, in the House of Com mons, in the debate on the Government of Massachusetts Bay, on the 29th March, 1774, said, " I propose in this Bill to take the executive power from the hands of the democratic part of the Government. I would propose that the Governor should act as a justice of peace, and that he should have • the power to appoint the officers throughout the whole civil authority, such as the sheriffs, provost, marshal, &c. I therefore move you, Sir, that leave be given to bring ie a Bill fur the better regulating the Government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay." And let the House look back and see what had been the effect of the course which was then pursued. The moderately libe ral party in party in America, who were most anxious to preserve the connection with England, on the mere arrival of Lord North's proposal for a Bill, became as much opposed to this country as they had been to a separation ; in short, pre cisely the same effect was produced as had been experienced on the reception in Canada of the recent resolutions of that House. And it was natural that the same causes should proei duce the same results. Lord North's Bill produced nothing, but dissension and discontent, and were the Canadians a dif- ' ferent class of men from those in the United States ? True, it had been said that the Canadians were cowards and would not fight, but precisely the same thing had been said of the Americans; for well did he recollect Colonel Tarleton's boast, that with a single sergeant's company of dragoons, he would march through the whole of North America. He (Mr Hume) could only apply to this Bill the language of Lord Camden used in the debate of the 15th of March, 1775, on the Bill for restraining the trade and commerce of the New England Colonies :—" We are old by some that this is a Bill of firmness and rigour to fill up the measure of justice, and to inflict condign punish ment on the obstinate and rebellious Colonists ; but by others that it is a Bill of mercy, kind and indulgent to the Americans. But, my Lords, the true character of the Bill is violent and hostile. My Lords, it is a Bill of war ;it draws the sword, and in its necessary consequences plunges the em pire into civil and unnatural war." This was precisely the kind of war which must be what was referred to by the Hon. and Gallant Officer who had just sat down, and it was just that sort of war which he (Mr. Hume) most deprecated. Every step which they were taking was leading them deeper and deeper into the mire, and the measures which were being taken would, in his opinion, produce the most mischievous effect ; and he had hoped that such a course would have been pursued as would have justified him in using the words of Lord Chat ham, who, having been tired out with the speeches which he had heard.---( Hear, hear, and laughter)—when he, on the st of February, 1775, submitted his Bill for settling the troubles of America, after stating that the Colonies were en titled to all their rights, added, " So shall true reooncilement avert impending calamities, and this moat solemn national ac cord between Great. Britain and her colonies stand an everlast ing monument of clemency and magnanimity in the benignant father of his people ; of wisdom and moderation in this great nation, famed for humanity as for valour ; and of fidelity and grateful affection from brave and loyal colonies to their parent kingdom, which will ever protect and cherish them." There was another instance on record, which was a case quoted by the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell), in which measures of conciliation to Ireland were strongly advocated. Mr. Fox, in his speech on the state of Ireland, in March, 1797, said : —" I would, therefore, concede ; and if I found I had not conceded enough, I would concede more. I know of no way of governing mankind but by conciliating them ; and ac cordincs to the forcible way which the Irish have of express ing their meaning, ' I know of no mode of governing the people but by letting them have their own way.' And what shall we lose by it? If Ireland is governed by cenceding to all her ways and wishes will she be less useful to Great Bri tain ? What is she now ?" What was Canada now ? or would she be less useful if her just demands were conceded to her ? he case was made out for Ireland, and he would only in setting it to the House exchange the name of Ireland for the name of Canada, and he would say, let them govern them selves by allowing them to have their own way ; let the people of Canada have the same principles with the people of Ireland, and let them have the option of adopting their own system of government. He had done his duty in ex plaining to the House the grounds on which he opposed the Bill, and he repeated that he was of opinion that it was ad visable by peace and attempts at reconcilement to endea vour to maintain a colony in connexion with the mother country as long as possible ; but as soon as the affection between the two countries was found to have ceased to exist, the sooner the system of separation was adopted the better it would be for the welfare of both. It was on this ground, therefore, that he put in his protest against the proceedings which it was proposed should be .tdopted. H e had proposed a resolution in which he had intended to take the sense of the House, and which embodied his reasons for refusing leave to the Noble Lord to bring in the Bill ; but it appeared that in the opinion of many Hon. Members who were sitting near him it was considered better that lie should post done its proposition until the second reading of the Bill, in the event of its being brought in.—( Hear, hear.) He must acknowledge that he was most unwilling to come to this con clusion ; but the ground suggested by Hon. Gentlemen was, that such a resolution should not be put until the House had had an opportunity of seeing the object of the Bill ; but he must declare that he could see no reason for any part of a measure being seen the whole of which was bad.--( Hear, and a laugh.) He should, however, for the present satisfy himself with taking the sense of the House against the introduction of the Bill ; but on its being brought forward for second reading he should take care that it was further considered.—.(Hear, and cries of " Question.") Sir HUSS E Y VIVIAN rose in explanation, and declared that he was the last man in the world to calumniate any one. The Hon. Member had spoken with regard to some letters, and which he said had not been alluded to. He did not know what other letters the Hon. Member had written besides those referred to. Mr. CLAY. in explanation, had never denied the right of the House of Assembly to refuse to grant the supplies. Sir GEORGE GREY said that it was not his intention t.) have spoken at all but for the observations which had fallen from the Lion. Gentleman the Member for Kilkenny. Had he risen before that Hon. Member, however it would have been his duty to express the very high gratification which Le had derived, and to congratulate the House not only on the degree of unanimity which prevailed this evening on the sub ject of the motion of the Noble Lord (Lord John Russell), but also to remark with peculiar pleasure on the tone and tem per of the debate this evening, as compared with that of the last night before the recess. The question, no doubt. was one ' which required the most grave and deliberate consideration, and he rejoiced that the House saw the Hon. Member for Kilkenny alone on that side of the question which he sup ported.—( Hear, hear, hear.) That Hon. Member had ad mitted facts with regard to Mr. Mackenzie, and had declared that the Right Hon. Baronet opposite had been guilty of great want of courtesy in respect to that gentleman. The Honourable Member, however, perhaps would not have objected to the plain term of " traitor" being applied to him— (Hear, hear)—and after the speech of the Hon. Member it might reasonably be supposed that he did not consider any disgrace to be conveyed by the application of that term to any one. The Hon. Member had given a history of the transac tions in which Mr. Mackenzie had been an actor ; but what was the result of that history ? The effect of it was that he was deprived of a shadow of a pretence of an excuse for his conduct in bringing his country, hitherto enjoying peace, to a state of warfare and misery for no good object, and on no rea sonable pretext but merely to gratify some feeling which he, in common with some others of his party, entertained.—( Hear, hear.) He was glad to find, however, that Sir Francis Head had formed a much more just estimate of the feelings of the people of Canada towards England than Mr. Mackenzie or any of his partisans, and the opinion which he formed was fully borne cut by the result. He had requested Sir John Colborne to withdraw every soldier from the colony of Upper Canada, because he knew that he could depend upon the loyalty of the inhabitants of the province to support the authority of the Crown, and in the event of any insurrection to put it down.—.( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member had said that the question did not only affect Lower Canada, but that the question would spread itself into Cie Upper Province, and that the opinions of Mr. MaAeuz:e were put forth there, and with some success ; that the people were dissatisfied; and that the contest for independence would extend itself to that portion of the colony. A few days only after that, specific information was received, which had now been laid before the House, but on which the Hon. Member had said nothing Of the facts which had been predicted. It was said that Nova Scotia was in the same position—( Hear)— hut from that colony as loyal an Address bad been sent to the Government as ever proceeded from the inhabitants of any country, testifying their abhorrence at the measures taken by the insurgents, and declaring their determination to adhere to their allegiance to the British Crown, and expressing their sense of the value of the British protection.—(llear, hear.) Both in Nova Scotia and Upper Canada a determination was expressed to spare the soldiers; and in New Brunswick also the Governor had said, that, if circumstances should render it necessary, they too were prepared to give up their sol diery for the establishment and support of the British ascendancy. Hitherto this had not been called for, and it was not probable now that the proffered aid would be required ; but the Governor had declared his ability to put himself at the head of any number of volunteers to co-operate with the troops to the extent of 5,000 men, with whom he could march into Canada, in order to maintain the Constitu tion and the power of the Crown.—( Cheers.) One subject which had been referred to last night, as reflecting discredit en the Government, was an alleged want of troops in Canada at the time of the breaking out of the insurrection, and a want of foresight in this subject having been duly considered ; but in answer to this he was prepared to state that in March last Lord Glenelg had instructed Sir Colin Campbell, in the event of troops being wanted, to call for a reinforcement in order to check any revolt which might break out. That in struction was acted upon, and one regiment was sent out, and three others were kept in readiness to be immediately trans mitted to the colony in the event of their being required. The necessity, however, did not arise until recently, when they were sent for, and they were immediately dispatched, but in all probabilil by the time ,of their arrival the necessity for their presence would have ceased. The Honourable Mem ber for Kilkenny had instituted a comparison between the present disturbances and the American war. A compari son might as well be drawn between the speech of Lord Chatham alluded to by the Honourable Member, and the ad dress with which the Honourable Member had himself favour ed the House that evening. —(Hear, and a laugh.) The Hon. Gentleman had alluded to certain existing grievances, but to these he would not specifically allude further; but he thought it right to remind the House of the instructions ad dressed to Lord Gosford in the dispatches which had already been laid on the table last year, but which the Hon. Member had thought it convenient to omit. It was quite clear and positive from them that instructions had been given to Lord Gosford to act as regarded all of them in that way which would be agreeable to this House and to the Government ; and in the event of any specific complaint being brought forward which had not been already remedied, he (Sir G. Grey) -would pledee himself that it could not rest on any good foun dation. With reference to Lord Gosford himself, he thought that, considering the trying circumstances under which his hardship was called on to act, there had been many ungene rous allusions made respecting him by the Hon. Member for Cornwall, and also by other Hono ura bl e G ent l emen on the other side of the House. There had been no expres sion whetever of dissatisfaction at his conduct on the part of the Government ; but, on the contrary, speaking of Isis Lordship as Governor of the Colony, and appealing to his conduct in that capacity, everything tended to show that he had acted on that principle of conciliation which he went out to carry into effect, and which it was the anxious desire of the Government to see supported, and which was besides most congenial to the feelings of the Members of that Go vernment, as well as to the British Constitution. He had been driven to certain acts, in consequence of which he was stigmatised as a tyrant by the Hon. Member for Kilkenny, while he was de signated as weak and imbecile by the Members of the Oppo sition party; but he thought that the conduct of the Noble Lord, on its being looked at in all its bearings, was the best proof of its being characterised by liberality and justice. Lord Gosford had concealed nothing from the Government, and he had best supported the Queen's authority by dismissing from office those magistrates and officers of the militia on whose co operation, in the event of any insurrection or revolt, he could lie could not rely. The proclamations which he had issued had been condemned ; but could any better course have been adopted than that which was taken in them, which had the effect of opening the eyes of those deluded persons who had joined the leaders of the revolutionary faction, which warned them against placing too much confidence in those leaders which condemned the influence which they had gained, and besides which warned the people from attending popular meetings, and from identifying themselves with those who had already broken out into rebellion against the legal authority ? And when the standard of revolution had been unfurled, would the House condemn the Governor for issuing a procla mation calling upon the people to return to their allegiance and duty, and to the protection of Government, and which besides offered them an amnesty, provided they would at once abandon those bodies by which they were being led to misery and destruction, If any specific charge should be brought forward, he (Sir G. Grey) should be prepared at once to inset it, and he would be ready to say that it had met that attention from the Governor which it demanded. Lord Gosford did not retire from the Government under circum stances which would reflect any thing in the shape of dis credit upon him ; but on the contrary he retired, his con. duct being fully approved of by his Sovereign, as well as by the Government under which he had acted.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") There had been one point referred to by the Honourable Member for Bridport which he said in some degree implicated the Government in the mode of carry ing on the . war, but which did not in any way justify the observations which had been made regarding the British troops and their conduct. Looking at the dispatches which had reached the Government, and the accounts which they received of the demeanour of the troops, he did not see how the Government could abstain from stating the entire satisfaction with which they viewed their steadiness, and the praiseworthy manner in which they had acted. But to show that the contest would not be carried on after resistance had ceased, he would appeal to the steps that had been taken. As for the destruction of the fortified houses, he would ask Honourable Gentlemen whether that was not the best course that could be taken for the sake of the peasantry themselves, e,lio had been led into these acts of insurrection, and thus pre involving themselves i n th e same r i s k an d d anger in e wt had so recently enga ge d ? Wh at was t h e lan t,vsunaeihenigclee'thetiheleemy Government itself in the instructions that had been sent out to the Governor of the province of Lower Ca nada ? " Her Majesty cannot contemplate the bloodshed and misery in which a portion of her s u bj ects h ave i nvolved them selves without the deepest feeling of regret for the necessity which has occasioned the active services of her troops in one of the provinces of the British empire. The Queen, how ever, entertaining the fullest confidence that, as far as yourself "— an d i t should be recollected that at Sir John C o lb orne had been appointed civil a d r e icl pteh n nis i d i s l t it ione a ' r n y Governor of the province_" these evils will be restricted within the narrowest poosible limits, and that on the part of her loyal and faithful subjects in the pro vince no vindictive feeling will mingle itself with their zealous and strenuous endeavours, under your guidance, to put down insurrection and revolt, and to vindicate the autho rity of the law ; but that their conduct will be equally marked with moderation as with firmness."—( Hear, hear.) Such was the spirit in which all the dispatches to the Governor of the province were drawn ; and h e was strongly urged to take any engaged dt tihnethsueffreerriongitsfroofmtheexpteeonpdliehgofhtehyeondd what istricts was required by the exigencies o f t h e case. He certainly en tertained the stncere hcpe th e Bi ll the provisions of which had been explained by his Noble F r i en d , and which was then to be laid on the table , would furnish th e means of putting an end to measure unhappily t o e n p g r those evils and removing the difficulties which had retarded the welfare of the provinces of Lower Canuda, and which ulti mately led to the adoption of measures which would develope the resources of both provinces, bound together as they are by common tiseishiaenhd wcoounlidmognreiwnteoruetstst;f the e e in tru ea st s e u d re th hf a e tt o h r e e would prov e b enef i cial to both the provinces o Lower C anada, and that the inhabitants of ttahfeese Upper House proceeding sp c p o e u r nt and ri es would find that the British Government endeavour to o r f e would be suppo rted by the Briti s h P ar li ament in carrying ou t m easures tending to the p ermanent interest and welfare of those coloni es ; tha t they would no t sanct i on any measure that would hasten the ndseeaa retard the tchoaltoisieiepsarfartoimon by measures the mother harshness a n d severity; but he sincerely trusted nor that the course t hat would be p ursue d wou ld b e such that the connection would prove b ene fi c i a l b ot h to t h e mother country and the colony, and th a t, by t h e promot i on of the common interest of both, t h e un i on would be rendered perma nent. —( Hear, hear.) Mr. B A INE S hoped that his H on . F r i en d t h e Member for of c ountry, Kilkenny would not divido the House, as it was impossible for ,Gentlemen, without having seen the Bill, to form any thinglike a just estimate as to its merits or defects. He also rose for elle purpose of asking the Noble Lord when the Bill would be printed and be put in the hands of Members; for unless copies were distributed without delay, it would be hardly fair to call upon Hon. Members to discuss the Bill at so early a period as Monday. Mr. HUME stated, that as lie intended to divide the House on the principle of the Bill, it was not necessary to see the details of it before they came to a decision on the subject. Sir ROBERT PE EL observed, that as the Honourable Member for Kilkenny intended to divide the House on the principle of the Bill, he should at once state that he should vote for its introduction, but by voting for leave to bring in the Bill, he did not thereby mean to imply that ho gave his unqualified approval to the measure, the details of which had that night been explained to them by the Noble Lord. As the Constitution of Lower Canada was at present prac tically suspended, it might be necessary to have some mea sure similar to a portion of the Bill then proposed. There fore, to so much of the Bill as suspended the Constitution of Lower Canada, and made provision for the temporary admi istration of the G overnment of that province, he should not object; but he confessed he did not understand the other provisions of the Bill as explained by the Noble Lord. He hoped that Honourable Gentlemen on both sides of the House, whatever might be their opinions on the sub ject, would consider well the provisions of that part of the measure which called together the Assembly which the Noble Lord described as a Convention of Estates of Upper and Lower Canada for the purpose of providing for the future government of those provinces. Ile doubted the eeliey of the course involved in this proceeding, above all, in the Lower Province, where men's minds were inflamed with what had so recently passed before them. He doubted the policy of discussing the provisions of a future Constitution for the when great exc i tement might naturally be ex pectedlteoprevail. If they were anxieus to bring about a u' iAnY n betw een the two provinces, he doubted whether is li s o v C ould he expedient or practicable to frame a satisfactory measure for the purpose at the present moment. The Noble Lord, as a part cf his plan for effecting this purpose, appeared to pro Pose a Convention of estates having jegislative authority, and being elected in a certain manner ; as lie understood this body, it was to be coalposed of three Members of the Legis lative Council of Upper Canada, end three Members of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada ; these were to mee together, and they were to be aided by a certain number of persons Navin; a representative character. They had a Re presentative Assembly in the Upper Province, and there might be no great difficulty in getting proper persons chosen there. He (Sir R. Peel) would not then say whether such a course was wise or expedient ; but while they suspended the existing Constitution of Lower Canada, how could they get represen tatives from the Assembly of that Province to attend the Con vention ? Did.the Noble Lord mean to give to the Go vernor of the Province for the time being the power of nomi nating persons to attend in that capacity ?—( Cries of " no.") Then how were they to be nominated when the Constitution was suspended ? The Noble Lord proposed to suspend the Constitution, and therefore representation, both legal and actual, would be put an end to ; how then could the represen tatives be convened at a moment to choose persons to attend the Convention when they were about to suspend the Consti tution of Lower Canada ? He confessed he did nut understand from the Noble Lord what course was to be pursued ; but any measure giving a form of representation while the Con stitution was suspended and the province was under martial law must be of a very anomalous character. Many parts of the measure proposed by the Government would require much consideration on the part of the House, and he hoped Hon. Gentlemen of all parties would devote their serious attention to the subject. They should remember that this measure was nothing more nor less than act of despotism—(hear)—justifi able, in his opinion, from the steps that had been taken by parties in Lower Canada, but still an act of despotism, and it was useless and unwise to conceal the character of the measure. What he objected to in it was, that at the present moment they pretended to conciliate, by saying that a certain form of repre sentation should exist for the purpose of forming a body to frame the future Constitution. He thought that it would be much bet ter to confine themselves to the necessity of the case, and suspend the Constitution for a time, and not at present take steps to frame a new Constitution. The proper course would have been, that the representatives of England should declare that they would make every inquiry, or direct inquiry to be made, so as to obtain adequate information for future legislation on the subject. He trusted that Honourable Gentlemen would not be led the mistake the nature of the measure. The Noble Lord, in introducing the Bill, said that there should be an Assembly chosen, which he would call the Convention of Estates, and that it should be composed of persons repre senting both provinces, and that this body should thus speak the sentiments and give expression to the feelings of the people of both colonies, and that they should assemble to draw up certain measures for the future Government of those countries. Did the Noble Lord mean that the Governor of the province should name the districts and the class of persons who were to choose these representatives ? Did the Noble Lord mean to name the persons who were qualified to be chosen as representatives, or those whom he could ac cept if they were elected ? Or did the Noble Lord mean that the Governor of the province should at once name the per sona who were to represent the province? If it was in any of these classes it was a mockery of representation. It would be infinitely better to guard against such a danger ous act as a precedent, clothed as it was in a character of liberality, which it did not possess. He was most anxious to take steps to make provision for the future good government, and for granting a free and adequate Constitution to Lower Canada, when the proper time came ; but he believed that nothing could be more impolitic, or give rise to greater dis asters, than the premature consideration of matters of this nature.—(Hear, hear.) He objected to this part of the measure on this ground, and also on the other ground; that the Bill proposed that which was a mockery of representation when the Constitution was suspended, and the representative bodies in the colony were no longer in existence. As the Noble Lord intended to move that the House h eild adjourn from that night until Monday, he would take that opportunity of asking the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether it was his intention to make any communication to Parliament as to the negotiations respecting the line bet ween the state of Maine and the p rov i nce of New Brunswick ? Very ample communications on the subject had been made by the Government of the United States to the American Con gress, and he thought that similar information should be fur nished to the House of Commons as to the state of this most important question. Lord JOHN RUSSELL was quite sure that the Right Hon. Gentleman had quite unintentionally mis-stated the in tentions of the Government on this question, and had imputed to them a course of proceeding which they had no intention of following. The Right Hon. Gentleman said, in the first place, that when insurrection raged in certain parts of the province, and when men's minds were greatly excited by what had taken place in Canada, it would be inexpedient and unwise to call together what the Right Hon. Baronet eared a Con vention of estates, and which he designated as a mockery of representation in Lower Canada. He would state again what were the intentions of Government with respect to this ques tion. In the first place, then, what the Bill proposed to do was, to set aside and suspend for a time the present Con stitution of Lower Canada, and to place the authority— despotic authority, if the Right Honourable Baronet would have it so—in the hands of the Governor in Council. But he also said at the same time, that they were determined to enforce the authority of the law. They did not design or intend to establish anything despotic in the Government of the country, but they would take such steps so that at the earliest possible time they could they would return to the constitutional Government of Canada. For this purpose he stated that it would be advantageous that the Governor to be sent out to Canada should have large powers entrusted to him, and that the future measures to be framed should not only be the result of the experience of the Governor, but that they should also have the additional recom mendation which would result from their being framed in con formity with the suggestions of persons in the Assembly which he had described, and by which those measures would have greater weight both in this country and in North Ame rica. In considering the provisions of this Bill it appeared to be both wise and expedient that they should not interfere with the Prerogative of the Crown, and whatever, therefore, was proposed t o be d one w ith res p ect to t h e C onst i tut i on of the Assembly he had alladed to would be contained in the instruc tions of her Majesty's Secretary of the Colonies to the Gover nor appointed, and not embraced in the Bill. The Right Hon. Gentleman asked whether the Governor was to nominate the body which he called the convention of' estates. He (Lord John Russell) would reply by no means, but the Governor would take steps to call together that body which he should call the Committee of Advice on this subject. If the Governor should find, which he (Lord J. Russell) did not believe would be the case, that great excitement still continued in the province, and that the calling together of the body he had alluded to was calculated, instead of promoting peace, to ag gravate the feelings of dissatisfaction, then it would be the duty of the Governor to withhold his sanction from its as sembling ; but much on this point must be left to the discre tionary power of the Governor. He did not, therefore, think that the plan was liable to the charge that had been brought against it, that in the midst of civil war and excitement they proposed to call together this body merely for the purpose of giving a liberal character to the measure..--( Hear, hear.) But if the Governor should think it fit to call such a body, it was impossible to allow the House of Assembly of Lower Canada to depute Members to such a body ; but still he thought that adequate provision should be made and devised for choosing this body, and that eleetions could be taken, to which persons could be chosen to represent Lower Canada. Undoubtedly, however, this process ought not to be adopted until tranquil lity was restored. But when the existing tumults and disturbances were put an end to, supposing that such a body was called together, containing persons representing the interests and wishes of the inhabitants of Upper Canada, and the interests and wishes of the inhabitants of Lower Canada—such body called together by the Governor, and having had the whole subject laid be fore them by him, would be able amply to consider and de liberate on the matters submitted to their consideration, and the result of their deliberations would naturally have great weight both with Parliament and the country.—( Hear, hear.) He agreed to a considerable extent with an opinion expressed by the Committee of 1828, and who reported to the House after great deliberation, and having with great patience inves tigated the subject. They stated that the British Parliament should not be called upon to interfere in the affairs of Canada unless in time of great need and where its authority was ne cessary ; but that in general the constitutional Assemblies of the Provinces should be left to the management of their own internal affairs.—(Hear, hear.) If the Government of the country were not prepared to propose a plan at once, they at least recommended a course which they had good reason to believe would meet with the approbation of a large por tion of the inhabitants of the Provinces, and would lay the foundation for future concord in Canada. As the Right Hon. Gentleman said that he should oppose this part of the Bill, he would at once state, that in framing it his Learned Friend the Attorney-General had been consulted, and he had given it as his opinion that it was unnecessary to frame enact ments for empowering the Crown to do that which was at present in the power of the Crown. It had therefore merely been mentioned in the preamble of the Bill that such instruc tions had been furnished to the Governor. It was, therefore, already within the power of the Governor about to be sent out to Canada to summon this Committee of Advice. The Right Hon. Gentleman said that he should put it to the House whether such authority should be granted to this body. It was certainly competent for the Right Hon. Baronet to do so, and when he brought the matter forward he ( Lord J. Russell) should be prepared to meet him. He felt bound to state to Parliament so much respecting_ this body as an ex planation of a part of the policy the Government meant to pursue with regard to Canada. He felt bound to explain that it was a part of the instructions given to the Earl of Durham to summon such a Council, and this was done without any wish for a show of liberality, as had been stated by the Right Hon. Gentleman, but from a conviction that by it means might be devised for the future good government of these pro vinces. The responsibility for adopting such a course rested with the Government, and they were fully prepared to bear it for having given such advice to the Crown. It was, how ever, for the Right Hon. Gentleman, if he thought fit, to show that the Royal authority had not been properly exercised on this matter. With respect to the conduct of Lord Gosford in Canada, he did not fuel called upon to make any observa tions, after what had fallen from his Hon. Friend the Under Secretary foe the Colonies ; and en this subject lie fully agreed with his Hon. Friend, that Lord Gosford had acted fully in accordance with the instructions which lie had received, and the character which he had to maintain; and that no man bad ever manifested a greater desire to conciliate, and at the same time greater firmness in not yielding to matters in which h e believed that the honour or intere s t s of this country were in volved.—( Hear, hear.) In answer to his Hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, he would observe that as the Bill was of some length, he did not think that it was possible that it could be printed and in the hands of the Members before Friday ; and he trusted that he should be able, as he was most anxious to do, to proceed with the second reading of the Bill on Mon- 'd ay, nli:ch, he did not mean to deny, involved a grave and imrrtant question. Sir R. PEEL could not imagine that there were ten rnmn in the House who had inferred from the first speech of the Noble Lord that the proposed Bill contained provisions autho rising and empowering the Governor to call together a Com mittee from both Canndas, such Committee having a repre sentative character.—( Hear, hear.) This undoubtedly must have been the construction put on that speech by others than himself; for the Hon. Member for St. Alban's had declared that he had become reconciled to the Bill precisely on account of the general advance it made in legislation, by enabling the Governor to call together a Canadian Convention; and this compliment of the Hon. Member to the liberality of the Government, no Member of the Government had once at tempted to repudiate. Now the Noble Lord said that all that I was intended was to give instructions to the Governor, by the exercise of royal prerogative, to call a certain number of gen tlemen together, to advise with him. If this were all that was intended, no impediment could be cffered to it. But what lie ( Sir R. Peel) objected to was, the giving the sanc tion of Parliament to any measure giving an authoritative and formal character to such a Committee. The Noble Lord said that the prerogative of the Crown might be extended to sending for these gentlemen as representatives of the districts of Lower Canada. He ( Sir Robert Peel) doubted whether there was such a power ; but, at all events, it was contem plated to give the Governor the power, in the present state of Lower Canada, to name certain gentlemen to such a Com mittee as representatives of the feelings and opinions of the Lower Canadians. He should object to such a proposition. Lord JOHN RUSSELL had stated just now, though the statement had not been noticed by the Right Honourable Baronet, that it would be inserted in the preamble that such instructions be given to the Governor. He did not think it necessary that there should be any clause in the Bill empower ing the Governor to call a Committee of Advice together, such a proceeding being perfectly within the prerogative) of the Crown, or to give power to the Governor to make a new division of districts. He might not have made himself quite intelligible to the Right Honourable Gentleman ; but this he could say, that two hours before he had seen a draught of the Bill in which it was proposed that in the preamble this power should be recited. Mr. ELLIS considered the answer of the Noble Lord al together different in its character from his first speech. He considered that to give the Governor power to name districts would create much discontent. Lord PALMERSTON stated that the documents and cor respondence relating to the Maine boundary, from the date of those last laid before the House up to the present time, would shortly be laid on the table of the House. The House then divided-- For the original motion l9B For the amendment Majority l9l The Bill was then read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on Monday. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. On the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL, it was agreed that the House should on its rising adjourn till Monday. CANADA. Mr. HUME, after observing that the papers laid before the House on the subject of Canada were extremely defective, moved for a " copy of the dispatches from Sir F. B. Head to Lord Glenelg, dated 21st April, 1836, and 16th July, 1836. Copies or abstracts of the Bills of Supply passed by the House of Assembly of Lower Canada in each year since 1832 ; and copies of any dispatches relating to such Bills of Supply, or to the refusal of the Legislative Council to pass any of such Bills; specifying the year in which the House of Assembly altoge ther neglected to pass a Bill of Supply. Copies of any reso lutions, received by the Colonial Office, passed at meetings held in Upper Canada since March, 1837, relative to the grievances and complaints of the people of that Province and of Lower Canada; and copies of any dispatches from Sir F. B. Head relative to such resolutions, and of the measures adopted by him respecting them. Copies of any dispatches received from Lower Canada, explaining the conduct and pro ceedings of the Speaker of the House of Assembly of that Pro vince, and of the 27 other persons named in the report of the Attorney and Solicitor-Generals, dated the 18th November, 1837, upon account of which the said persons were directed to be arrested, and the date of the proceedings upon account of which their arrest was ordered, and the date when ordered to be arrested. The names of the magistrates dismissed by Lord Gosford, upon the representation of the Attorney-Gene ral that certain proceedings which he contemplated to take would be hazarded if the said magistrates continued in the commission of the peace, and the nature of the charges made against each of the said magistrates, as stated in Earl Gosford's dispatch of the 22d of November, 1837. A copy of the report of the Executive Council, and of the Attorney-General, respecting certain individuals in the magistracy, referred to in Earl Gosford's letter of the 22d November to Lord Glenelg, as the reason for removing them from the magis tracy : also, a copy of the Earl of Gosford's letter of the 4th November to the Attorney-General, referred to in the Attorney-General's letter of the 18th November, 1837. A list of the names and occupations of the objectionable jus tices removed from tho commission of the peace in Mon treal ; and also, the names and designations of the persons added to the commission of the peace at the same time, as stated in Earl Gosford's letter of the 22d November to Lord Glenelg. Copies of any letters received from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, and Newfoundland, relative to the constitution of the Legislative and Executive Councils of the Governments of those colonies, or to their being made elective, or to any change that has been required by any branch of the Legislature of those colonies to be made to the said Councils, within the last eight years ; also, to any change that has been made, or directed to be made in them, or in any mode of electing new members of the said Councils." The first return was ordered, but the motions for the se cond and third were withdrawn, after an explanation from Sir G. GREY. On the motion for the fourth return relative to the arrest of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, and of the twenty seven other persons, The House divided, and the numbers were— For the Motion Against it Majority --48 The Return of the Magistrates dismissed was agreed to, subject to a modification proposed by Sir G. GREY. The motion for a Copy of the Report of the Executive Council, and of the Attorney-General respecting certain in dividuals in the Magistracy, &c., was negatived without a division. Copies of letters from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, &c., relative to the Constitution of the Legislative and Exe cutive Councils of the colonies, or to their being made elec tive, was agreed to without a division. Mr. HUME moved for the dates of the time at which the despatches were received at the Colonial-office. Sir G. GREY did not know that the dates were in exist ence. It was not usual to preserve them. Lord STANLEY said that when he was at the Colonial office those dates were given. Sir G. GREY remarked that it was not the usual practice. Sir R. PEEL said that there was one despatch which he hoped there would be no objection to produce. Lord Glenelg, in acknowledging the despatch in which Lord Gosford trans mitted to him the Address from the House of Assembly, on his laying before them the Resolutions of the House of Com mons, said he would communicate with him more at length upon the subject. He wished to see that subsequent commu nication of Lord Glenelg. Sir GEORGE GREY replied that no further communica tion had taken place from Lord Glenelg except that which was private and confidential. Mr. HAWE S wished to put a question of considerable im portance to the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell). Ho wished to know, having supported the Address in order to strengthesi the hands of Government with a view to • put down revolt, and being also prepared to give his consent to the introduction of this Bill, whether the Noble Lord had taken measures to pre vent sanguinary punishments from taking place previous to the arrival of Lord Durham in Canada? Lord JOHN RUSSELL said it appeared to him that the Honourable Member meant to imply that there was an expectation, either on 'the part of the Government or the House, that sanguinary executions would take place under the direction of Sir John Colborne. He must say, in order to prevent misconception, that ho had no expec tation that Sir John Colborne would order sanguinary executions, or would do anything beyond what he wculd consider a painful duty on this subject. It was therefore certainly not necessary that the Government should take steps to desire Sir John Colborne to refrain from a course which he considered it ' unlikely ho should pursue-... namely, a course marked by a character of cruelty, or one of a sanguinary nature. At the same, Government had not thought right to withhold from Sir J. C o lb orne t h e i r general opinion as to the inexpediency of capital executions on an occasion of this nature. They had informed him of this in their de spatches, the contents of which he was not inclined to state in detail, but they had stated their general opinion—an opi nion in which he believed that almost every person in the country would concur, namely, that, upon an occasion like that which had arisen, executions not immediately prompted by absolute necessity, would tend both to prolong the contest and would leave afterwards in the minds of the people feel-- ings of an unpleasant nature. In stating this opinion to Sir J. Colborne he must say that they did nut in the least doubt that gallant officer's disposition; and he must also say that they were not laying upon him any positive instructions which should fetter him in the execution of his duty. They were merely stating to him what was the general opinion of the: Government on this subject, an opinion in which he (Lord J. Russell) had no doubt but that Sir John Colborne would fully concur. Mr. HAWES was perfectly satisfied with the answer of Ella Noble Lord. Mr. WARBURTON said that, according to the common practice of this country State prisoners were always treated with great humanity. It would, however, be seen from par s ers that had been laid on the table of the House, that on ing 'to the neglected state of the prisons of Montreal a priscroer had lately perished. He hoped that the same indulgew, :e and at tention would be shown to the prisoners in hlont,•eal that was shown to prisoners in thi scountry, Sir R. INGLIS said it was a question with many, and himself amongst them, whether capital iunishments might not be altogether abolished. But with respect to the persory who on a late occasion had been denounced as a traitor, amidst the cheers of nine-tenths of the House, he must say that he should consider it a false and spurious humanity to extenuate ' any sentence that might be passed upon him. Mr. C. BULLER was sorry to hear such an ohservation,4 from the Honourab!e Baronet.—Hear Sufficii'nq angry feeling had been excited against ther:indliidual,, ar t did not require any addition. He thought mit •in ale* • OP' THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1838, ,